Mail-pouch catcher



J. A. HATLESTAD.

MAIL POUCH GATGHER.

No. 430,851. Patented June 24,1890.

A TTOHNE Y8 m: norms PETENS 00., PnnTB-um 0, WASHINGTON, n. c.

as partially carried within the same.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH ANDRE\V HATLESTAD, OF HANDSBOROUGII, MISSISSIPPI.

MAIL-POUCH CATCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,851, dated June 24, 1890.

Application filed February 27, 1890- Serial No. 341,924. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that l, JOSEPH ANDREW HA- TLESTAD, of Handsborough, in the county of Harrison and State of Mississippi, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Mail-Pouch Catchers, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improved mailpouch catcher, and has for its object to provide a device capable of attachment to any mail-car, and which will with absolute certainty catch and securely retain a pouch until the same is released by the mailclerk or other person within the car.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of simple and durable construction which in operation Will not expose the mail-clerk employed to catch the mails to unusual danger of life and limb.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully setforth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a partial perspective view of one side of a mail-car, illustrating the device as attached to the door-jamb of the car, and Fig. 2

' is a similar view to Fig. 1, the device being shown in perspective and in position to receive the mail-pouch. Fig. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the device detached from the car and enlarged. Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view illustrating one of the looking or gripping arms of the device in the open or receiving position; and Fig. 5 isa perspective detail view of the same part illustrated in Fig. 4, showing the gripping-arm in the closed position.

The body of the device consists of a series of horizontal bars 10, arranged one over the other and each terminating at its outer end in an eye 11, and all of the bars are connected by a rear perpendicular bar 12 and an intermediate vertical bar 13. The rear bar 12 extends both above and below the body, and the projecting extremities of this bar are utilized to hinge the device to the door-jamb let of the car. The bars 10 are concentrically curved, as best illustrated at 15 in Figs. 2 and 3. The lower bar at its curved portion is flattened, as shown at ain said Figs. 2 and 3, to provide a platform for the support of the mail-pouch.

In connection with the body a grippingarm A is employed. The. said arm consists, preferably, of a series of curved horizontal bars 16, attached at their inner ends to a common upright bar 17, which bar is held to turn in the eyes of the body and forms a pivot for the gripping-arm.

Upon the upper end of the pivotal bar of the gripping-arms a ratchet-wheel 18 is securely fastened, the teeth whereof are engaged by a spring-pressed pawl 19, fulcrumed upon the body, as best shown in Fig. 3. Then the grippingarm A is thrown inward to receive and clamp the mail-pouch, the ratchet-wheel 18 is free to turn, as the pawl will slip over the teeth thereof; but when the said arm has reached its closed position the pawl, engaging with the ratchet-wheel, Will effectually prevent it from opening until the pawl is detached from the ratchet by the clerk in the car.

At or near the center of the upright 17 of the gripping-arm one end of a plate 20 is secured, which plate, when the gripping'arm is in its open position, extends above and diagonally across the platform a of the body, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3; but when the gripping-arm is closed the plate 20 passes between the bars 15 of the body to the rear thereof.

Upon one of the bars 15 of the body, at its inner end, a handle 21 is attached toenable the mail-clerk to readily draw in the device when desired, and upon the door-jamb, im-' mediately at the rear of the device, a strip of rubber or other elastic material22is secured.

In operation, when the grippingarm is opened, as shown in Fig. 2, and the plate 20 projects beyond the table a, the device is in position to receive the mail bag or pouch sus pended alongside the track. As the car advances and the device approaches the mailpouch, the pouch is brought in contact with the plate 20, thereby forcing said plate to the rear, and as the plate is attached to the pivotal point of the gripping-arm the said arm is simultaneously closed in upon the body around the pouch, as illustrated in Fig. 1; and should the force of the blow of the mailpouch upon the body be very great the said body will be forced to a contact with the clastic strip 22, and a rebound of the said body caused, which will throw the device, without the assistance of the clerk, into the car, where it may be caught, the gripping-arm released and opened, and the pouch removed.

In order that the gripping-arm may be kept scribed, and for the purpose specified.

in position until the pouch strikes the plate 20, an angular beveled stop-block 23 is formed upon the lower end of the pivot-rod of the arm, which stop-block is adapted to fit into a correspondingly-shaped recess 24, formed in the platform a of the body, as best shown in Fig. 5. When the. gripping-arm is in its receiving position, the block is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4:, the straight outer wall contactingwith the straight outer wall of the recess, and as the gripping-arm is carried inward to its retaining position, by reason of the opposite beveled surfaces of the block and recess, the said block is enabled to readily ride up upon the table or platform a, as illustrated in Fig. 5.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure'by Letters Patent 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a mail-pouch catcher consisting of a body adapted to be hinged to a car, comprising a series of bars curved at their outer ends, the lower bar being formed with a platform, and a gripping-arm consisting of curved bars pivoted in the curved extremity of the body, and a plate secured to the pivotal point of the arm, substantially as shown and described, and for the purposes specified.

2. In a mail-pouch catcher, the combination, with a body adapted to be hinged to a car, of a gripping-arm hinged to the outer end of the body and provided with a trippingplate, substantially as shown and described.

3. In a mail-pouch catcher, the combination, with a body provided with a platform and adapted to be hinged to a car, of a gripping-arm hinged to the outer end of the body and provided with a tripping-plate which ex tends across the platform when the grippingarm is in the open position, and means for retaining the said arm in the closed position, substantially as shown and described.

4:. In a mail-pouch catcher, the combination,with a body portion adapted to be hinged to a car and having a curved outer end, of a gripping-arm pivoted in the curved extremity of the body, and a tripping-plate secured to the pivot end of the gripping-arm and adapted to pass rearward through an opening in the body, substantially as shown and de- 5. In a mail-pouch catcher, the combination, with a body portion adapted to be hinged to a car and provided with a curved outer end and a platform formed at the bottom, of a gripping-arm pivoted in the curved outer end of the body, a ratchet secured to the upper pivotal end of the gripping-arm, a pawl pivoted upon the body and engaging said ratchet, and a tripping-plate attached to the pivotal end of the gripping-arm between its upper and lower extremities, the said tripping-plate being adapted to pass rearward through an aperture in the body, substantially as shown and described, and for the purpose specified. Y

6. In a mail-pouch catcher, the combination, with a body portion adapted to be hinged to a car and having a curved outer end and a horizontal platform at the lower side of the said curved end, and an elastic cushion arranged at the back of the body, of a gripping-arm hinged to the curved extremity of the body, a ratchet secured to the upper portion of the said arm at its pivotal end, a pawl contacting with the said ratchet and pivoted upon the body, a block secured to the lower end of the arm at its pivotal point adapted to enter a cavity in the body-platform, and a tripping-plate also attached to the pivotal end of the gripping-arm and adapted to pass rearward through an opening in the body, substantially as shown and described.

JOSEPH ANDREW HATLES'IAD.

Witnesses:

F. TAYLOR,

J. F. STUARD. 

